to me----"

"Yes?" said Margaret Elizabeth.

"Well, that it applies in your case." Mr. Pennington cleared his throat.
"A certain person whom we know has behaved very well of late; better
than I thought was in him, but--unless you are pretty sure you can't
live without him--Now this is rank treason on my part, but don't be too
soft-hearted, Margaret Elizabeth."

Mr. Pennington returned to his stock-market reports, and silence
reigned, but presently two hands rested on his shoulders, and a velvet
cheek touched his for a moment. "Thank you, Uncle Gerry," said Margaret
Elizabeth.




CHAPTER TWELVE

_Which shows Miss Bentley recovering from a fit of what Uncle Bob
calls Cantankerousness; in which a shipwrecked letter is brought to
light, and Dr. Prue is called again to visit the child of the Park
Superintendent._


"And he turned into a splendid prince (he had been one all the time
really, you know), and he laid all his riches at Violetta's feet, and
made her a princess, because she had been true to him through thick and
thin."